Dana White not convinced Randy Couture ready to walk away from UFC

Count Dana White among those who are a bit skeptical that Saturday night will be Randy Couture’s last fight.

During introductions of those competing at the sold-out UFC 129 at its pre-fight press conference, the UFC president wanted to get something out of the way concerning the UFC Hall of Famer’s recent proclamation that Lyoto Machida is his last opponent.

“The press started calling me and saying, ‘What do you think about Randy Couture retiring?’ White said. “And my answer to that was, ‘I’ve heard this before. And I’ve actually seen it before.'”

With a smile and a semi-shrug, he added: “Who knows?”

Couture (19-10 MMA, 16-7 UFC), who meets Machida (16-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) on the second bout of UFC 129’s main card at Toronto’s Rogers Centre, has spoken at length about his decision to call it quits following Saturday night. He said the decision was mainly based on a desire to end his career on his own terms and avoid the pitfalls that might accompany fights beyond his prime.

Couture also expects the UFC will keep offering him fights, which he said will keep him from making a formal announcement inside the cage after Saturday night.

And White would be just the guy to offer those fights, particularly because he thinks the idea that Couture is beyond his prime is off-base.

“Right now and before he had this fight, I think people started not respecting Randy Couture, in that they don’t have him ranked in the top-10,” he said. “And I’ve been the one saying this guy is one of the top 10 in the world.

“I don’t care what anybody says. He can go out there and beat anybody in the top 10 on any given day. Randy Couture is absolutely, 100 percent a top 10 light-heavyweight in the world, and he’s going up against another top-10 light heavyweight in the world in Lyoto Machida.”

Machida is on shaky ground, as well, after back-to-back losses to Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson stripped him of his light-heavyweight belt and muted the possibility of getting it back any time soon.

White said he expects Couture to do what he’s always done inside the octagon. What happens after that is anyone’s guess.

“This is a big fight for both guys,” he said. “I expect fireworks. Couture’s the master of going out there and figuring out a game plan to beat anybody with any style. And Lyoto Machida has proven he has the style to do a lot of damage and knock people out.”

If, however, Couture earns a spectacular victory on Saturday night, it’s pretty clear where White will stand on the 47-year-old fighter’s sunset.

“We’ll see,” White said.

Couture, who until recently seemed content to call it a career, opened the door for speculation when he suggested he would come back once more for “something special.” White said he doesn’t know if Couture is referring to a specific opponent, but he knows what has traditionally motivating for “The Natural.”

“It’s him saying, ‘I think I can kick that guy’s ass,'” White told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “He likes this Lyoto Machida fight. He’s sent me a couple of texts throughout training saying, ‘This is really interesting.’ He’s like a scientist when it comes to fighting, and he’s in to it.”

White said he won’t try to convince Couture to make a decision either way, but if the UFC Hall of Famer does walk away after Saturday night, the UFC boss admits he always has one trick up his sleeve.

“What I do is when we’re working on something, I say, ‘This would be a cool one for Couture,'” White said with a grin. “I say to him, ‘Hey, what do you think? You want to take this fight? He can’t say no.”

For complete coverage of UFC 129, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com.